Braves Extend Ozzie Albies

The Braves continued to lock up their core pieces Thursday, announcing a contract extension with second baseman Ozzie Albies that’ll guarantee the 22-year-old a total of $35MM from 2019-25. He’ll earn $1MM apiece in 2019 and 2020, $3MM in 2021, $5MM in 2022, and $7MM annually from 2023 through 2025.

The contract includes a pair of club options reportedly valued at $7MM apiece; the first one comes with a $4MM buyout. If both are exercised, Albies will earn a mere $45MM over the next nine seasons — four of which would have been free-agent years.

Albies was already under control through 2023 but will now join Ronald Acuna Jr. in comprising a core that the Braves can build around beyond that point in time. Acuna’s contract was deemed by many to be bargain, but the Albies deal runs nearly the same length while checking in at just under one third of the total maximum value.

In terms of overall guarantee, Albies topped fellow second baseman Ketel Marte, though he did so only by giving away additional years of control. Historically speaking, there’s little to no precedent for a player this young and of this caliber surrendering four would-be free-agent seasons for a maximum payout under $50MM. While there’s surely something to be said for accepting a first life-changing payday — particularly with arbitration still two years away — Albies was on track to become a free agent upon completion of his age-26 season. For comparison’s sake, Scooter Gennett earned $18MM over this three arb years despite not breaking out until he was in his first arbitration season. Jonathan Schoop, who was non-tendered after his second arbitration season, signed a one-year deal with the Twins and will earn $19.475MM across what would’ve been his three arb seasons.

Setting aside second basemen and merely looking at players who signed extensions with between one and two years of Major League service, Christian Yelich (seven years, $49.57MM), Andrelton Simmons (seven years, $58MM) and Anthony Rizzo (seven years, $41MM) all topped the Albies guarantee handily — and did so more than four years ago. If Albies was dead-set on an extension, a $50MM baseline would have been at least commensurate with market trends — especially considering the multiple options over free-agent seasons. Instead, the deal checks in more along the lines of dated extensions signed by Starling Marte, Jedd Gyorko and Gregory Polanco.

Frankly, this seems like the type of deal that an agent would strongly advise his client not to take. Perhaps Albies simply wanted to take the largest guarantee the Braves were willing to offer; he received just a $350K signing bonus as a prospect, after all, and his career earnings to date may not even total seven figures. From a purely human standpoint, it’s hard for any 22-year-old player without much in the way of career earnings to rebuff $35MM under the guise that he’ll earn more on a year-to-year basis beginning 24 months down the line. Presumably, all of the points made here were spelled out to Albies before he made what amounts to a life-altering decision.

The contract serves as a reminder that the teams hold overwhelming leverage in instances such as this, and the Atlanta organization took full advantage of that reality. It’s nothing short of a coup for the Braves to land Albies for a maximum of $45MM over the next nine years just weeks after Eloy Jimenez signed a deal that can pay him as much as $75MM over eight years before he ever played a single MLB game.

Albies, meanwhile, entered his second full big league campaign in 2019 with a career .268/.317/.453 batting line to go along with 30 homers, 49 doubles, 10 triples and 22 stolen bases (in 26 attempts). He’s off to a fast start thus far, too, having posted a .929 OPS through the season’s first 11 games. Long one of the game’s top-ranked prospects, Albies earned what figures to be the first of multiple All-Star nods last year as part of a season that both Baseball-Reference and Fangraphs pegged at 3.8 wins above replacement. Given the output he’s already demonstrated to this point in his career, it seems unfathomable that Albies wouldn’t have taken home at least $10-15MM in arbitration, and the more realistic scenario (as evidenced by Schoop and Gennett) is that he’d have done quite a bit better.

The Braves may very well try to spin the Acuna and Albies extensions as big expenditures that’ll buy some good will with fans after a quiet offseason in which they did not spend at anywhere near the level they implied to fans several months ago. And Braves fans, to be clear, should be thrilled by both deals. However, these types of deals aren’t the type that a team can legitimately claim as alternatives to spending in free agency and in taking on salary via trades; rather, they’re the type of contracts that should empower a team to spend in those arenas, knowing full well that paying market rate for other talent is offset by the overwhelming bargains they’ve secured over a pair of homegrown assets.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the agreement (via Twitter). The New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported the terms (Twitterlinks), with Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweeting the annual breakdown.

Comments

When he’s not a 24-HR hitter he hits for .300. I’ll take that inconsistency every day. Last year was a 21 y/o was seeing what he was capable of, considering he’d never done anywhere near that power wise at any level. Look for refinement this year, much like a healthy Swanson.

Dude he’s already there. With options, he’d make $45 million over the next 9 years, taking him through his age 31 season and basically guaranteeing that he never gets paid what he’s worth if he reaches his full potential.

He’s got the makings of being a Cano-level star when Cano was in his prime with the Yankees, granted he may have only been that good with PEDs, but Albies has that type of potential and that potential would easily be worth north of $200 million should he get there.

He is signing a terrible deal. If he remains at .260 15-20HR and 60-70 RBI, he is likely make make up to double as much money over the same period of time. His agent is doing him a great disservice.
Let’s say he makes $25 mil over his arbitration years (likely a low number), he could easily make up the other $20 mil from this deal over the first two years of free agency by hitting the market around the age of 28.

Why are you assuming it is the agents fault? Maybe the agent advised him not to take the offer. As the story states the player accepts the deal based off of his needs and wants. He wanted some money now instead of later.

You’re right – this contract ensures he will never be paid what he’s worth. But that’s the position players are being cornered into – because it’s STILL more than what he’s getting today, and probably more than he would have gotten (per year) in his first couple of arb years.

Because players are so poorly paid compared to their actual worth, because of this system, players are having to assess the risk and seriously consider lowball deals. Or earn a fraction of their actual value and risk getting nothing down the track to show for it.

People simply want to be paid what they’re worth – but this system won’t allow it.

Does your comment hold water if Albies signed this contract? Maybe this is what he feels he’s worth, or maybe this was ok for him because he wants to remain in Atlanta w/ financial security through his 30’s.

I don’t get it. If he felt it wasn’t right or enough, he could have walked away.

Why SHOULDN’T Atlanta try to go for a 7/$35 if he’d accept? They’d be stupid not to.

funny, why does me pointing out Atlanta has drastically underpaid another player on an extention mean that i think they were forced to. again, not one person here knows or will know every factor in play nor ever will because none of us are Ozzie Albies. cant i suggest a guy is being extremely underpaid withought people assuming im saying they handcuffed him to a table and demanded he sign the contract?

To decide actual worth you only need two parties – the payor and the payee. If the payor writing the check offers an amount, and the payee voluntarily accepts it and says he is happy with it, then the salary IS what that particular player is worth.

Albies is happy with it, team is happy with it, it’s what he is worth.

Yea, and he wouldn’t be worth that if the Braves hadn’t developed him precisely as they had. At this point in his career, he’s almost 50-50 the work of his talents and the Braves. There’s nothing saying that he could go to another organization at be in tune with coaching that has led him to make the adjustments he has to not be worthless from one side of the plate like he was last fall.

Prematurely handing out a contract to an AS 2B at 21 who also happens to have a personal connection with your other star (Acuña). People would be hollering if he wasn’t signed and you are because he was too soon. How is your fantasy baseball team going?

Is someone going to rationalize this deal? I don’t see the upside for albies here unless he really doesn’t believe in himself. He was going to reach arbitration next year. Then be set to go through 4x. To give up additional prime years and punt all of that arb for 35MM guaranteed is crazy. His options are absolutely horrendous as well. 7MM for your prime seasons? Seriously?

you need to realize that both Albies and Acuña come from extreme poverty, they are signing these deals out of need. I do feel it’s a bit unfair from the Braves to low-ball them like this, but they didn’t have to offer them anything at all, so I see it as a win-win for both parties.

He’s made 1.6MM dollars already. I fully understand he comes from poverty but he just got taken to the cleaners. Far worse than Acuna did honestly. This makes acuna’s deal look good. Albies was set to reach arbitration next year where he’d Certainly be making another couple million bucks and going from there. It’s not as if he gets 35MM in his bank account tomorrow. It’s great if you’re a Braves fan. You have arguably the 2 of the highest valued assets in baseball right now due to their team friendly deals.

As a Yankees fan, I completely agree with this. I know it’s the Braves, but if the Yankees offered this extension to, say, Gleybar Torres, there would be an uproar in the comments section about how the richest team in sports is lowballing their players and buying out their arb years for pennies.

If Albies reaches even 80% of his potential, he’s worth $200 million easily based on current market value and future inflation. I know he was broke before MLB, but he’s going to be a lot more broke when he hits free agency on the wrong side of 30 and nobody wants to sign him to more than a 1-year deal because the analytics geeks say he’s going to break down 15 games into the season.

That again is besides the point. It just shows that team control needs to be decreased in the next CBA. You cannot possibly have that much leverage over a very solid young player that he feels like this deal is a safe play. I’m glad albies future is secure but he just gave up 9 years for 45 million bucks. That sounds great to you because you’re not a highly talented baseball player.

Companies like Fantex. Will pay you millions of dollars now for a % of your career earnings. I’m not sure how many FanTex is still handing out but I am confident that albies wouldn’t have had any issues finding an investor who would do a similar structure if he really wanted cash today. Google fantex baseball contracts if you aren’t familiar.

No, they didn’t force him to sign anything, but who is Albies agent and how do I apply for the job? As much as I like this deal for the Braves, I wonder what Albies was thinking? He’d half to fall off a cliff (figuratively or literally) for this deal to not work out for the Braves.

Wrong first off, he was two years away from arbitration. Secondly, you do realize that you can’t live off of $1.6 million forever right? If he wanted to live for 60 years off of that money alone he’d need to spend only $27k per year. That’s about $25k less than the average American salary. He also only signed for $350k as an amateur free agent. When weighing a mega million dollar guarantee right now and the possibility of having to work menial labor if he suffers an injury, it’s no wonder he took the guarantee.

This is the result of the player’s union using the earning power of early career players as a bargaining chip to help veterans secure those massive franchise crippling contracts.
The players need to look out for the benefit of both the young players as well as the old washed up ones.

I will continue to make the argument that no player in the vein of Acuna or Albies has to give up 4 years of FA in exchange for guaranteed money. Heck there were reports that Acuna turned down $30M over 5-6 years meaning the Braves were willing to go shorter then, so why are they giving up so many FA years now?

There’s no good reason to rationalize giving away 3-4 years of FA. That’s just a fools game. You mean to tell me that the Braves wouldn’t have guaranteed him a good chunk of money for one additional season of control? Considering what prime years are worth i find that very hard to believe. He’d have to take less of a guarantee but that is a terrible argument that your average fan loves to throw out there.

Yu please explain me to how Brandon Lowe can make more money in an extension? Lowe is older, less accomplished, and has less service time. You want to make ANY extension reasonable. Without doing any thinking whatsoever. Please do a comparable contract analysis and tell me he didn’t get hammered. You’re an absolute fool if you come to that conclusion. The Braves killed him on this deal.

As Aaron Judge is paid 684K coming off back-to-back AS appearances and finishing in the top-12 in MVP voting the last 2 years. I’d rather read how the Braves paid their 22 y/0 more than what the league made them pay them because they believe in him than the normal Post material of how much Ellsbury is costing the team or Stanton’s rehab update while being paid $29M (with help from MIA). Don’t worry, Severino will be ok and that contract won’t be a mark, but it’s ok for mid and small market teams to pay their stars handsomely, rather than waiting on the big market clubs to overpay for their worst years.

You didn’t pay albies handsomely. The Braves did this contract because they assume all the upside. You’re framing this as if they just paid albies more out of the goodness of their heart. That is ridiculous

And if his skills diminish quickly and his success is short-lived? An injury costs him a step and reduces his value? Isn’t there some risk for the Braves here? If they had paid Jason Hayward or Jeff Francour “what they were worth” after their first year, they would have regretted it.

Would it be more reasonable to make everyone go year to year? Right now, Albies would have been faced with the league minimum, and the Braves have the ability to non-tender him with no financial consequence going forward. Yet, if Albies were able to negotiate his worth on a single year deal, he would get a significant paycheck today. But alas, the system as it is, means he doesn’t.

Every single player entering the league, is hamstrung by a system designed to ensure they don’t get paid what they’re worth. That is the problem. Even players who sign early extensions – like Albies – are hamstrung by the system because the system gives the Team leverage.

Anyone who actually steps back and looks at the system as it is right now, and removes their bias towards “that’s the way it’s always been”, should be shocked at how bad it is. There is no logical defense of it, because all defense is built around something that is broken to begin with.

This is the real question–why the players want to do this. The question is not why a team lowballs an offer–that’s just negotiation 101. So why are players giving up uncertainty for a guarantee of millions of doll–oh wait….

people be acting like he got ripped off or something. kids like 22 and has proven nothing, same with Ocuna. if they continue this play for years and years then they’ll get their big contract. making 35 million at age 22 is pretty solid

I COMPLETELY understand these young guys leaving some money on the table to get guaranteed money at a young age, but this seems like he left a LOT on the table. If this was what he wanted, good for him though. It’s still a lot of money.

This. Exactly this. When a guy who projects as a consistent .280 hitter can only get $7 million on an option 8 years into the future, at a time when .220 hitters are getting that NOW, something is seriously wrong.

I kind of hope he turns into a bust and the Braves end up paying him to play for a rival just so they get their monies worth because Albies turning into a stud would be the worst possible thing for his career on this contract. He just gave up 4 free agent years for pennies when he absolutely would have made double that as even an average player.

You hope he busts? Gee, if this had been Andujar or Judge I don’t think I would feel the same way as you. It wouldn’t be bad for baseball for some players to actually show they care more about the game and the fans then their own earning potential. Granted $45 mill and 9 years is a bit basement bargain I’ll admit.

You realize he’s getting that $35M paid out in increasing increments over the next 9 years, not all at once as a 22 year old right? When players of similar ability are making $35M or more over 2 seasons you see how young players get ripped off.

Does it not leave a bit of a bad taste in your mouth at all? Locking guys up long-term is something to celebrate, but locking them up at rates that feel exploitative would make me a bit sick to my stomach if this were my team.

how do you know this wasn’t the deal that Ozzy’s agent presented to the Braves and the Braves said done? you have no clue whether it’s exploitation or not. have no clue how the negotiations went. Maybe there weren’t any negotiations. Maybe Ozzy said that’s what I want so that’s what they gave him.

The near-universal reaction has been that this deal is way undervalue. You’re right, I have no idea what went on in the negotiation room. However, if this is the deal that Albies’ agent suggested, he is clearly not a very good advocate for his client. If Ozzie himself suggested this and the agent did not try to talk him out of it, he’s not a very good agent. Albies himself may not have a clear sense of what he is worth, and he may have felt some urgency to get a payday sooner rather than later. Either way, it feels like he is being taken advantage of at some level.

I think the thing people forget is that this doesn’t mean the Braves can’t offer them other extensions down the road. I can easily see both Acuna and Albies getting monster extensions with a couple years left on these deals just like Trout did this year. Both Acuna and Albies seem to love Atlanta. They are also best friends and love playing together. This ensures they are side by side and have a friend to share their passion and love for the game with.

Wasn’t that the issue with Puig his first couple years? He didn’t have a supporting cast or family around him? Acuna and Albies have that in each other. It started in minor league ball and now they have a bond that will last for many many more years and hopefully their entire careers.

Yeah. Completely. You’re hoping that the Braves are generous. The Braves who are owned by a publicly traded company and may have a completely different front office are going to reward albies for being severely underpaid by his current deal? That seems like a fantasy.

I hate the deal for Albies but this is a good point. The Royals did that with Salvador Perez a few years back too; there’s definitely a chance that in a few years they’ll give him a pay bump in a new deal.

Maybe you;ll see an extension once they reach the club option years if they are still playing at a higher level, but any extension would be tacted on most likely.
It’s not as if the Angels extended Trout out of the goodness of their hearts nor did they pay him more in the extension than he’s projected to be worth to “make up” for underpaying him previously.

The only “good faith” type contract I can really think of is Sal Perez.

It shouldn’t affect them at all. For starters the Braves can’t shop on the international market this year. Secondly, these weren’t forced upon the players.
The only way I see this negatively affecting anything is with the Braves and future extensions. Not every player is going to take a home town discount and how would you justify giving another player, say like Dansby Swanson, a contract bigger than Acunas?

The system that drives them to this, is forced upon the players. Either take this route, or earn a pittance for years to come – in the hope that you’re still healthy enough down the track to get something in return.

The system that ensures they aren’t paid ANYTHING near their worth, is forced on them.

If any one of us, in our job, could only earn a fraction of our actual worth each year, because there’s a system in place to make sure of it – we would all be filthy. And not filthy rich. Filthy angry.

Exploitative? You really need to get away from pro sports for a while and read some news stories about diamond mines in Africa or sweatshop workers in Southeast Asia before throwing around words like exploitative in regards to someone that just guaranteed himself $45 million dollars in salary. Sure it might be below the incredibly high market rate, but exploitative it is not.

“Sure it might be below the incredibly high market rate” Are you upset ballplayers get paid so much? The revenues in baseball are what they are. The money is going into the game whether you like it or not. Thinking the players shouldn’t get as much as they do is a fine thought but the money is going somewhere. Either players or the owners receive the money. Maybe you are of the opinion the owners can put that money to better use? That very well might be true but the money is going somewhere one way or the other.

Life altering amount for Ozzie and his family but an absolute steal from the Braves point of view. It states Albies was worth 3.8 WAR. Only needs to produce roughly 5 WAR over the next 7 years to break even. Everything else is surplus value for the team. Amazing deal that should keep the Braves competitive for years!

The option years are terrible. Schoop got more this season than Albies gets in his option years almost a decade into the future when a .220 hitter will be worth $15 million a year based on the current market and future inflation.

I really hope that if both Albies and Acuña play to their potential, the Braves will use the low salaries in the last 2 years as leverage to extend their deals into more lucrative ones that’ll keep them both as lifetime Braves.

Lemme get this right… you’re hoping that these guys reach their potential and then even though they’d be getting screwed on their contracts negotiate with the team that originally screwed them for another team-friendly extension?

More than likely they’ll realize the messed up half way through these deals and become disgruntled. Anyone saying it’s was hard for the to turn it down because they come from poverty is just fooling themselves to make the braves seem like heros. The minute these 2 cracked the main roster they were set to make $545,000, which is infinitely more money than they have ever had. Waiting it out a few years for many millions more was viable for both of them no matter what their part or current financials are b

As a braves fan I’m super excited about this extension (and Acuna’s), but I also seriously think that Albies has just barely scratched the surface of his talent and has sold himself for mere pennies on the dollar.

There are going to be some angry players and agents at the next CBA negotiations. I’m getting worried that we face a strike over the way teams are misusing service time and (as the players may see it) colluding to freeze out FAs, while exploiting youngsters for long extensions.

This is crazy! As a Braves fan, I’m excited for the potential of Acuna and Albies long term on team friendly contracts (assuming neither completely flames out or has a career-altering injury) for the long term. However, I do worry about the perception it is going to give other younger players if these deals end up as highway robbery. Why would I want to sign with the Braves when I know they are going to try and fleece me?

We’ll have to check on that. Last I heard, according to Kris Bryant, Boras was in the men’s room changing his boxers and pants because he let loose all over himself when the heard the news about Albies extension.

Oh boohoo, now he’ll only be able to sign for $150 million instead of $250 million when he’s a free agent at age 30. How will he ever survive? And he’s only going to guarantee himself $45 million to play a game? It’s so sad I think I’m gonna start crying.

Nobody is saying he’s not being paid a lot. A bunsload, really. The issue is that, even though he’s being paid a lot, he’s being paid a lot less than most objective observers would say he’s worth. And the concern is that maybe the team took advantage of his eagerness to get paid to lock him up at way-below market value rates. Sure, he had a choice, but seems like he must have been pretty poorly-advised.

Certainly a good deal for the Braves, but they are also assuming risk. Moreso for Albies than Acuña. That’s how the free market works. What? Do people want FOs to not try and make the best deal possible? These kids should be set for life and they should earn more later if they don’t fall out due to injury. Good deal for everyone IMHO.

The Phillies assumed risk by promising Bryce Harper $300+ million over 13 years. The Braves did not assume a whole lot of risk in offering what averages out to a 7th inning reliever’s salary over 9 years for a young infielder with All-Star potential. Saying that they assumed risk and that everybody wins is rationalizing something that you probably know is taking advantage of the player.

The Braves Pissed away 50MM last season on Brandon McCarthy, Scott kazmir, and Adrian Gonzalez. They won’t pay albies that much over the next 9 years. Get some perspective. There’s almost no risk for the Braves in this contract.

Tony Clark, it’s time to hire competent help and get out of the way. These extensions, the softness of the FA market, the service time manipulation, and the poor treatment of younger players (and minor league players) are on you. This is intrinsically a lot of money, but it’s a terrible deal for a talented player. We will never know what went on inside the room, but it’s hard to understand the logic of this from the player/agent side. Unless they felt they had no choice. He would have been arb-eligible in 2021.

Baseball is truly broken if an all star caliber player is only getting this contract. Blows my mind how people in the comments are such advocates for the owners and FO for continuing to horde billions of dollars

Baseballs been broken for a long time. Most of these owners have made their money outside baseball. It appears players this offseason choose financial security over waiting to maximize dollars. Felix Hernandez, Albert Pujols, Miggy, Chris Davis, YU, Ellsbury…I don’t see them calling owners and giving back money nor should they. The reality is owners and GM’s have done a better job in today’s market reducing their risk.

The salary cap and luxury cap kill teams that would spend freely and other teams have no intention of going over the cap.

I’d like to see only one year deals at a flat salary with bonus’s paid on stats. You hit 50 singers and drive in 120, you make $25 million the next year. You get hurt and miss the next season, you get the minimum. It would never pass but players would get paid off of performance.

The Braves did not take advantage of Albies…he and his agent made a business decision that fit the young mans desires and needs today. If he’s as great as everyone on here thinks, he’ll make plenty more via endorsements.

The day agents and players give money back for sucking will be the day teams go back and adjust for under paying!

Ok, this deal on the heels of $100 mil for Acuna is quite low. No doubt about that. However, a player can say no and wait for a better deal down the road. We don’t really know why he accepted this, however, if he is as valuable as we think he will be, he will still be paid well in the future. I’m surprised the Braves have gotten into the extension business again after the last fiasco. Only Freeman has been worth every penny.

Generally have been in favor of this “extension mania’ that has gone on the last month or so. Most of the guys have been young players that signed for more than they would have gotten had they not extended, guaranteed money, and only gave up a year or two of free agency. Team gain cost certainty and can keep some key players together longer. Seems like a win-win.

This time, seems like Ozzie undersold himself. His right, and maybe the security is worth it to him.

For all the predictions of stardom, and they are likely correct, folks forget there are plenty of Albies out there that flattened out. Villar was a 3.9 bWAR player at age 25. Kipnis was great, until he wasn’t. Panik was 3.3 at age 24. Minny is still waiting on Buxton and Sano, although the former is a defensive genius. Hamilton was supposed to be Buxton. Kingery is hardly setting the world on fire. Any remember uber-prospect Ian Happ? I could give you 100 more. Ron Kittle? Brandon Wood? Brett Lawrie? Great prospect? 3.3 WAR in his rookie year, with only 171 PAs, and a 4.5 WAR in his second season, in only 536 PAs? Out of BB by age 26?

Obviously, if Albies continues his trajectory, he will be more than worth it. But plenty of guys haven’t. But in all my years of reading about BB, I have never once seen a column headed by ‘Guys who should’ve signed an extension’.

No one is denying that the Albies and Acuna could flame out. But even if they do, even a smaller market team like the Braves can survive because these contracts are such steals. Also for the promise of a few extra million, these guys are signing away their major earning years. There’s risk on both sides no doubt, but if Albies and Acuna become great players as anyone would hope, they will never ever be able to make up that lost of money in their first FA years while the team owners will recoup so much off of their production

Am I the only person who noticed that the math doesn’t line up here? 35 million over seven years plus two option years at 7 million equals 49 million in total earnings over the course of the contract, right?

No man. It pays him 31 million over 7 years. That’s a guarantee. IF they choose not to exercise his 7 million dollar options for years 8 and 9. He gets another 4 million. Meaning 35 million total if they cut him loose after 7 years. If they choose to keep him the full 9 then obviously the buyout doesn’t come into play and he receives 7MM in years 8 and 9. 31+14=45 or 31+4=35.

Lol.. for anyone who is complaining that the Braves somehow screwed Albies, just remember he could have said, “No!” Or even “Hell No!” To that deal… instead he decided $45mill is more than 99% of all other people will make over their entire lives and it’s plenty to play a game for the next 9 years.. With that said, do I think he left a lot on the table,yes!

For everyone that thinks this is a steal for the Braves, have you looked at the stats? He dropped off considerably from the first half to the second half last season.

I want to take you back not that long ago to another top prospect that made the ASG in his first year and dropped off significantly in the second half. That would be Domonic Brown of the Phillies. Do you think it would have been a steal for the Phils to lock him up for 7 years after that All Star season?

I’m not saying Albies is definitely going to end up that bad, but I am going to say that he COULD.

So what? He’s came out of the gate hitting yet again. He’s a young player with a second half scuffle. You think that justifies signing 9 years away for 45 million? Albies ripped the ball up at 20 the year before. This guy is 21 years old. He’s a plus defender even if he doesn’t tear the cover off the ball.

There’s ways to sign extensions that guarantee you millions of dollars without signing your entire prime away for 45 million dollars. Plenty of other guys figured that out. You telling me Brandon Lowe’s a more talented player or does he just have a much better agent? This was laughably bad.

He is a grown man that signed the contract. What makes you think you know better than him how to deal with his money? Maybe he realizes that $45 million dollars is plenty to comfortably live the rest of your life on.

As far as Brandon Lowe goes, he wasn’t signed by the same team so that’s irrelevant. Now if you said, do I think Acuna is twice the player of Albies, then you might have a point. But you didn’t, so there you go.

Then don’t change the goalposts pal. If you’re going to tell me “maybe he thinks 45 mil is enough to live on” hey look it certainly is but that doesn’t mean he didn’t sign A completely under market value extension. A simple comparable contract analysis would tell you that. As I showed with Lowe. You could sell your 500K house tomorrow for 200K because you’re afraid of the roof going up but it doesn’t exactly make it a good deal.

Your line of thinking allows for zero criticism of contract extensions. If that’s how you want to think, that’s fine. But you can certainly criticize a contract extension.

And your Acuna number would have to be tripled. The question would be do I think Acuna is triple the player albies is? Acuna received a potential guarantee of 144MM compared to albies 45. Which again makes this even more laughable.

League minimum and gambling on your future arbitration. Consistency and injuries are always a risk. These deals are player-friendly and help develop a better relationship between player and organization moving forwards.

You only hope players won’t feel any more or less pressure to perform.

Albies given security and comfortable pay.
Braves already getting good value out of him and potentially save a fortune avoiding arbitration if he continues to improve.

Can the drama queens stop acting like they robbed this kid of a future? This basically covers his team controlled years plus maybe an extra year on the end. He’ll be a FA at 28-29. He’s really not missing out.

How are your math skills? He’s 22 and he signed away 9 years. Does that equal 28 or 29? Apparently you did not comprehend his contract either because this is a 9 year deal. The only way they would decline his option years would be if they didn’t think he was worth 3MM a year.

Bro, read the first paragraph of the article. This is 2019. He is guaranteed 7 years. Through 2025. The Braves then have 2 club options valued at 7 million apiece or they pay him a 4 million dollar buyout. I’m not understanding the comprehension issue.

Exactly. That’s the point people are missing. While whining about the “team-friendly” deals, which may not necessarily be true in 10 years, the Braves could be ready to dominate thanks to more money coming off the books the next year or two.

Maybe Acuna and Albies said, “I want to be part of a dynasty”. Who knows? Maybe they told their agents they want to win multiple rings, and to negotiate a fair extension in-order to win more rings. Maybe rings motivate them more than money. Maybe????

I have nothing but the utmost respect for Albies and Acuna Jr . I love these guys, they didn’t chase money, they love the Atlanta Braves, and money like most other people was not their main driving factor or consideration which tells me everything I need to know about these guys. They love their club and they love the sport of baseball more than the money. If only some other people took this example.

I’d love to live in a romanticized world where this could be true; but sadly my friend, I think you’re sporting some rose-colored glasses. The Braves getting one over on Albies and, to a lesser extent, Acuña, is a glaring example that money trumps all in MLB.

And I’ve also gotta say, these MLB owners are freakin’ geniuses. They’re greedy geniuses, but still geniuses. They’ve somehow spun the narrative from “team uses its immense leverage to underpay young player…again” to “wow, look at Albies and Acuña and how much they *love* the game! They love it so much they’re willing to line the owner’s pockets!” *swoons*

I think your average joe has bought that line without it having to be sold to them. Seeing X millions of dollars next to a contract extension tells your average fan it was a good deal and that nobody should say otherwise. Because that x million dollars is 20x what your average joe will make in his life. I think it’s a rather easy sell Job for ownership. Your average fan doesn’t think about how much money is in the game right now. Paying him 7 million dollars in his prime is absolutely criminal…..

Hopefully you don’t have any poor guys who think that this will lower their ticket price or their beer price for that matter.

I’m gonna have to side with the writers on this one. There’s a difference between your typical super-team-friendly-extension (Paul Goldschmidt comes to mind) and what Albies signed for. I believe AA and the Braves did Ozzy dirty on this one. This is taking advantage and the Braves should be embarrassed.

All that really makes sense to me is that the Acuna extension made Albies want that kind of security so he approaches the FO about it. They low balled him because he has less pedigree than Acuna and he accepted anyway. Now they get to be best friends for the braves forever and I love that, but he definitely deserves more based on the market.

This reminds me of Jon Singleton for the Astros. Consensus was the Astros screwed the top first base prospect with a multi year dear. Then he turned out to be a bust and was paid anyway. Albies is no bust, but injuries are a risk. Take the money and he and his family are set for life. Altuve had an extremely team friendly deal as well and then eventually signed the $151MM extension. $35MM+ is more than any 50 middle class people put together will make in a life time…

Clearly Albies has no faith in himself. There is no justification for this deal at all. The guy has made around $1.5 million so far over the last 5 years. It’s not like he’s getting food stamps. He literally just needed to wait another two years to make the exact same amount of money a year, and then easily blow by his annual salary. It’s such a dumb deal for Albies, and the option years at $7m is laughable. How are even the option years so low?

Please don’t tell me that he wasn’t forced to do the deal. I understand that, but it doesn’t make it right.

It’s kind of ridiculous. Anyone that trades away future FA years HAS TO be selling short. No team would sign anyone to a FA deal, if they weren’t a FA.

Maybe his agent is an idiot. Maybe the Braves suggested they wait a year or two. But here is the thing-for a lot of people, especially younger people, they see no difference or becoming richer. I said that about the Bay contract; you certainly got paid more, but you have to play in a park that works against you, for a team that will never see the playoffs.

So I think Albies gave away money, but it is entirely possible that he asked his agent for the best deal possible, and didn’t care if he gave away $20M+.

So for any of you wondering if these athletes are getting payed enough, your E-1 first year enlisted personnel in the military make $43,703.90 a year. People, a little levity goes a long way. Any nobody gettin’ took by getting paid millions of dollars to play any game.

I was in the disbursing (military pay) for 13 years in the Marine corps. Only way to getting housing allowance and food (bas) is if you are married or authorized (usually E-5 and above) to live off of base. So per DFAS (department of defense monthly base pay is $1554. for E-1 less than 4 months and 1680.90 for E-1 over 4 months)

What is “total compensation” for an E-1? Just curious. I know the “total compensation” is significantly higher. But I’m not sure what it is exactly. That number he said for salary may be close to that total compensation number. Not sure, I’d have to defer to you there.

@Jbigz12 first 4 months 1554 a month after that it goes up to 1680.90 a month. Bas is 369.39 a month but if you eat at the chow hall it is about $14 a month and about 7.90 for BAH. If that person is married it will determine what base they are located at and their BAH Rate 790 is the lowest and 4311 the highest.

How on earth is this exploitation? He just saw Acuna sign for 130M, and has seen all of these contracts flying around. He knows what he is worth. This has nothing to do with the team and everything to do with either 1) the agent or 2) Ozzie himself. Either the agent was looking to collect a quick 6% and led his client astray (in which case a lawsuit is coming) or Ozzie doesn’t care about money over being set for life and just wanted to keep playing in Atlanta with his friend. I just don’t get how so many people can be this put out over another person’s personal decision? At the end of the day, his signature is on that paper and the only person that could have led him astray to put it there is the person he hired.

Along with Albies, his agents also represent Castellanos, Dietrich, Kimbrel, Lindor, and Jesmuel Valentin just signed a deal with the Orioles…so you’d think they were competent. (Okay, so the Valentin deal is minor league, but, hey, he’s got a job! lol)
I think this was a player over-ride of professional advice. It makes no sense to me without that context.
Which means Ozzie is happy with it.
What else matters?
The work is done. He got paid.
Now, he gets to play!!!

Funny, but I just did the same exercise. It’s entirely possible that his agent is incompetent. Kimbrel is unemployed and might have trouble getting half of what he should’ve gotten. And Albies signed well-under market, imho.

“Keep playing in Atlanta with his friend”. I don’t remember seeing a no trade clause? If anything I think there’s a greater chance he’s dealt now since his value is up because he’s so underpaid.
I do agree that this was Alvie’s decision though. It’s just weird to see a deal that’s so overwhelmingly a win for one side.

During Acuna’s interview after last night’s game (sorry no link) he was asked what he thought of Albie’s contract extension. After it was asked through translation Acuna scratched an itch above his right ear (camera side) and well, let’s just say his hand gave us a possible look at what our bodies can say no matter what the language.
Did anyone else see the interview?

I think this deal is significant because not only proven veteran players will find less-money less-year contracts from current market trends, those young promising yet unproven players will have to really decide if they want to settle for the less guaranteed team-friendly contracts withour risking free agencies. Yes, it is still a lot of money but I think we all agree that uf they can perform at a higher level they will command much more lucrative contracts. Because this precedence has been set, other teams will also use this as a leverage with other young players.
Time will only tell this contract’s aftermath effects but I think the Braves got a solid deal on this one.

1 – the system is broken. They need to raise the league minimum, shorten svc time required to reach arb and FA, and find a way to penalise teams for manipulation. They could also incentivise teams to finish in the top half of their respective leagues.

2 – a lot of this won’t happen in one CBA, so we are probably going to see a work stoppage. The perennial all stars who are signing extensions will tell you in a few years that they saw this coming.

Great deal for the Braves locking up a very good young player for nickels. What is Ozzie thinking signing that deal? In two years when he’s scoring 100 runs and stealing 30 bases all while batting .290 he’ll regret this contract. Players seem to be in a panic over this past off season. The reason Keuchel and Kimbrel are still not signed is because they have ridiculous contract demands. I don’t think players should be afraid because those two guys are unsigned. Kimbrel and Keuchel hurt themselves only.